All in all, a draw seemed about a fair result for Toronto FC on Saturday night.

TFC twice battled back and received some stellar goalkeeping from Joe Bendik to come out of Houston with a 2-2 tie, remaining in third place in the East.

The night could have finished a lot worse for the visitors, given how it started.

With starters Steven Caldwell and Mark Bloom sidelined due to injury, Bradley Orr and Nick Hagglund filled in at the back and the unfamiliarity immediately plagued the Reds, with Orr making a major miscue which led to Houston’s opener.

Orr had a communication breakdown with Bendik, trying to tap it back to the ’keeper, not knowing that Bendik had come charging off of his line. That allowed Will Bruin to pot a gift in the 11th minute.

Houston did not lay back after the opener and nearly doubled the lead, getting thwarted only by a tremendous save by Bendik, one of a handful of spectacular stops on the night.

With Julio Cesar not returning, TFC appears to be in good hands with Bendik in goal.

Buoyed by that first stellar stop, the Reds went the other way and got a pretty equalizer from Gilberto, a bit of a surprise starter over Jermain Defoe, in the 18th minute.

The Reds carried the play for the next while, but fell behind again when Houston’s Giles Barnes found himself free after a bit of a run and fired a laser past Bendik in the 26th minute. It was the only mistake Bendik made on the evening and, that said, was a difficult save to make by anyone.

But once again, the plucky Reds came right back, with Luke Moore getting taken down in the box just a minute later. Michael Bradley stepped up to take the penalty, but was unlucky, beating Tally Hall, but not the post.

Just when it looked like Houston would go into the break with the lead, Moore made a great cross to Dominic Oduro, who deflected the ball in just ahead of the whistle in stoppage time, the second straight week he had done that against Houston.

Toronto was the better team in the first half, with 55% of the possession and a 4-1 edge in corner kicks plus the missed penalty kick, while Houston had the better chances in the second half, with Bendik needing to step up with some fabulous stops to preserve the tie.

TFC has now lost just once in its past 10 games, but has just one victory in its past six, something Bradley pointed out afterward in a good sign of where expectations lie within the club.

“Obviously it’s a difficult place to play, the response in the first half to go down twice, was really good. But, we also hold ourselves to a high standard and at a certain point, we’d like to start winning these kind of games more often than not,” Bradley said.

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TFC, Houston play to a fitting tie in Texas

All in all, a draw seemed about a fair result for Toronto FC on Saturday night.

TFC twice battled back and received some stellar goalkeeping from Joe Bendik to come out of Houston with a 2-2 tie, remaining in third place in the East.

The night could have finished a lot worse for the visitors, given how it started.

With starters Steven Caldwell and Mark Bloom sidelined due to injury, Bradley Orr and Nick Hagglund filled in at the back and the unfamiliarity immediately plagued the Reds, with Orr making a major miscue which led to Houston’s opener.

Orr had a communication breakdown with Bendik, trying to tap it back to the ’keeper, not knowing that Bendik had come charging off of his line. That allowed Will Bruin to pot a gift in the 11th minute.

Houston did not lay back after the opener and nearly doubled the lead, getting thwarted only by a tremendous save by Bendik, one of a handful of spectacular stops on the night.

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